Fast Retro is an open source retrospective tool I built to solve a problem my teams kept facing: inefficient retrospectives. We were wasting so much time in Miro boards that I wanted to change something But existing tools were either too complex, required signups, or stored data indefinitely. Fast Retro focuses on simplicity and privacy, providing a streamlined experience for agile teams.
The Problem
Traditional retrospective tools overcomplicate things. They force you through multiple phases, confusing categories, and features you don't need. Meanwhile, your team is stuck in a meeting that drags on while everyone zones out.
Retrospectives should be simple:
- What went well?
- What could be better?
- What are we going to do about it?
But instead, teams get bogged down in complexity, duplicate feedback, and discussions that go nowhere because there's no clear prioritization.
The Solution
Fast Retro strips away all the unnecessary complexity. Two simple columns, real-time collaboration, smart grouping and voting, then action items. The entire process is streamlined to get you from feedback to actionable results as quickly as possible.
How It Works
1. Two Simple Columns Just "What went well?" and "What could be better?" No confusing categories, no analysis paralysis. Everyone adds their feedback in real-time.
2. Group Similar Topics Instead of duplicate feedback chaos, team members can group similar topics together. This naturally surfaces the most common themes without manual deduplication.
3. Vote on Priorities Each person gets 3 votes to prioritize what matters most. Democracy in action - the team collectively decides what to discuss.
4. Discuss & Create Action Items Focus the discussion on the highest-voted items. Capture concrete action items that your team commits to, ensuring every retrospective leads to real improvements.
Key Features
No Signup Required Create a retro and share the link. That's it. No accounts, no authentication, no friction. Just start a retro and get your team involved immediately.
Real-time Collaboration See changes as they happen. Whether it's new feedback, grouping topics, or voting, everyone is always on the same page without needing to refresh. Built for teams working together synchronously.
Smart Grouping & Voting Eliminate duplicate feedback by grouping similar topics. Then vote with 3 votes per person to democratically prioritize what the team should discuss.
Action Items That Matter A retro without action items is just a venting session. Fast Retro helps you capture concrete actions during the discussion phase. Everyone can see and contribute to the action list, creating a clear summary of what the team will do next.
Open Source The entire codebase is open source and free to use. Self-host it on your own servers if you want complete control over your data. No vendor lock-in, modify as you like.
Privacy First All retrospective data is automatically deleted every night. Your team's feedback doesn't accumulate on my servers. This ensures privacy while still providing a hosted solution for teams who don't want to self-host.
Why I Built This
I was tired of retrospectives that felt like a chore. The existing tools were either too complex, too expensive, or required too much setup. I wanted something I could share with my team instantly - no signups, no credit cards, just a link.
The core philosophy is simplicity. Every feature in Fast Retro serves the goal of making retrospectives faster and more actionable. If it doesn't help teams get to action items quicker, it doesn't belong in the tool.
Tech Stack
- React - Frontend interface
- Real-time WebSockets - Live collaboration
- Open Source - Fully transparent codebase
- Self-hostable - Deploy anywhere you want
Impact
~350 monthly active users and 643+ retrospectives created and counting. Teams use Fast Retro because it gets out of the way and lets them focus on what matters - improving their process.
The nightly data deletion policy has been particularly well-received. Teams appreciate that their feedback isn't stored indefinitely, and the constraint actually encourages teams to export and act on their action items rather than letting them sit in a database forever.
Challenges & Learnings
Real-time Collaboration Building real-time collaboration that feels snappy and responsive was challenging. Users expect instant updates when multiple people are editing simultaneously, grouping feedback, and voting. Getting the WebSocket implementation right took iteration.
Simplicity is Hard It's tempting to add more features - different retrospective formats, integrations, analytics. But the core value proposition is simplicity. Every feature request has to pass the test: Does this make retros faster and more actionable? Most don't make the cut.
Privacy by Default Implementing nightly data deletion was both a technical and product decision. It simplified the database architecture (no need to manage user data long-term) while also being a strong privacy feature that differentiates Fast Retro from competitors.
Links
Open source retrospective tool for agile teams. 643+ retros created, no signup required, data deleted nightly.